Schwarzenegger Hires New Flack

The job of Governor's press secretary is one of the toughest in the Administration -- I know from first-hand experience. Not only do you have to please your boss, but you also have to keep the press corps relatively happy. And you never have a moment's peace nor a misstep: the Blackberry buzzes all day and all night, and you're out front taking the hits whenever there's news to be made.
 
Today the Schwarzenegger Administration has hired a new press secretary to fill the shoes of Margita Thompson, who left after nearly three years on the job.
 
Aaron McLear will come to the administration after being on the defensive for the past year as a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, where he was spokesperson for the Northeast region. He spent most of his career in the scandal-plagued administration of Ohio Governor Bob Taft, and then moved on as the communications director for the Bush re-election in Ohio (hmmm...I wonder if he met Arnold when the governor stumped for Bush during the critical final days of the 2004 campaign).
 
A quick Google search turns up a few interesting quotes.
 
On oil drilling: "The Democrats don't want to talk about the fact that they continuously vote for higher gas prices - they vote against the expansion of drilling in this country. When it comes to gas prices, the only thing that they're consistently for is raising taxes on gas prices. To avoid talking about the real issues on energy, they prefer to level false accusations at Republicans.
 
On Howard Dean's refusal to attack John Kerry on his botched Iraq joke at an Angelides rally: "Howard Dean's defense of John Kerry's shameful comments is sadly indicative of Democrats refusal to defend the integrity of our military. Democrats have an opportunity to stand up for our troops but they instead are either justifying Kerry's comments or staying silent while accepting his money. Either way they are showing voters exactly what they think of our brave men and women in uniform."
 
On Republicans not wanting the unpopular Bush to show up in their states during last year's election: ``The president is more in demand and has raised more money for Republican candidates this cycle than he did four years ago,'' McLear said. ``He reminds people of Republican economic policies that have created over 6 million jobs in the past three years, and an America that hasn't been attacked since 9/11.''
 
On former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle: "Much like New Hampshire Democrats, Tom Daschle leaves us less than impressed and bewildered that a failed Senate candidate would consider himself a legitimate presidential contender." (Conflict of interest note: I was a New Hampshire Democrat for 14 years).
 
On Democratic presidential hopeful Dennis Kucinich: "This is a guy who is against every tool that the government needs to keep us safe."
 
Oh, and he also apparently was the "Brutus" mascot for the Ohio State Buckeyes, and said his favorite memory was 1998’s Michigan game. “When the crowd rushed the field they put me on their shoulders and passed me around,” he said.
 
Welcome to California, Aaron. Good luck!

Print this report | Send to a friend

About Steven Maviglio | All Reports by Steven Maviglio

---

Browse in :

All > Reports > Schwarzenegger

There are no comments attached to this item.

Ratings